Dive Haven GA Incident

[icestac]

*** To the best of my knowledge, everyone is ok.***

Not sure if this is the best place to post, but something definately happened. The quarry was packed and it looked like most were open water recreational divers.

I was up at Dive Haven yesterday (Sun June 1, 2008) and during my surface interval around lunch time, 2 fire trucks, 2 ambulances, and the sheriff came out to the scene. I had no idea what was going on. Other than the emergency vehicles, there was not indication of any emergency or incidents. The fireman pulled in and asked me what was going on and I said I don't know. He said they were called in for 2 lost divers or 2 drownings - apparently the 911 call was a bit vague or misinformed.

I am just going to report what I saw, I have some opinions, but I won't comment on them as I do not know all of the circumstances.

Dive haven has a bouy out in the middle of the quarry which is connected to a 10x10 platform at the bottom at approximately 150ft. I had seen a large group of divers (not in tech gear) surrounding the bouy -- I thought this looked odd, but did not really give it more thought. A short while passed before the emergency vehicles arrived. Even when they were at the gate, no one was really in any rush until after about a minute passed before someone started jogging in that direction to open the gate for the fire truck. At this point, everone started looking around to see what was going on. I am not sure at what point the rescue divers were deployed, but by the time I got over to the watch, there were 3 divers at the bouy (1 down and 2 at the surface). About 5-10 minutes seemed to pass during which a people were talking about what was going on, but nothing authoritative. We could see the bouy bouncing and bubbles coming up about 20 ft away from the bouy. The emergency personel were trying to figure out what to do since none of them were prepared for an in water rescue so they just formed a huddle 10-15 feet from the dock while the events unravelled. The two "missing" divers finally appeared and there were 5 divers on the surface (3 rescue + 2 "victims"). They made the swim back to the dock at which point they were put on O2 (it was said that they missed their safety stop). I saw one of the victims on the bench with an O2 mask retelling the story with a big smile and laughing.

I don't really have anything more to add, but am very curious about the circumstances that lead up to this incident as it could have turned out very differently and there may be some things to be learned.

Thanks,
~Jeff

 

[Saltwater Junky]

mmm... interesteing.

Were the rescue divers part of the emergency response team?

 

[icestac]

Were the rescue divers part of the emergency response team?

The rescue divers were not emergency personel (sheriff, firemen, etc) if that is what you were asking. It looked to be that they were just divers that happened to be there that day. They too were in recreational gear only (i.e. no visible bailout or deco gas).

The bottom of the quarry is a "Jello" like mass. I had been down to 100ft that morning and my computer read 48F.

~Jeff

 

[Scuba Dudette]

I was there too. It is not unusual for groups of divers doing training dives to gather around buoys before descending. The emergency vehicles were called because it is always better to err on the side of caution when dealing with a suspected dive emergency, and a diver was thought to be missing.

The people in the water who were observed swimming back in were out there looking for the missing diver. The two divers seen "appearing" were actually professional level staff from local dive shops who had gone down to search. The other three on the surface were also professionals affiliated with the dive shops and the property, and they had been searching as well. The "missing" diver was already out of the water (and OK) before the group of five headed back in.

The staff at Dive Haven did a fantastic job. I do think if emergency personnel are needed on-site again that there will be more organization in their efforts.

 

[icestac]

Thanks for the reply. I guess the questions I have are:

1. What really happened?
2. Is there anything to be learned?
3. Could something have been done differently to avoid that situation in the future?

From your post, it sounds like a single diver (not 2) got separated from the group and surfaced without incident and no one noticed them (and they did not come forward) until a search was in full swing (kudos to the rescue divers for acting so fast).

I had heard it was an advanced open water class that was doing their deep dive. If this was the case, how or why did the student(s) get separated? Was it simple wandering off, lack of proper gear (sufficient light), or was it narcosis? This is just speculation, but I think it would be helpful to know so the same thing does not happen again.

I did see a person on O2 after the rescue divers came out of the water. If he did not miss a stop, then why was the decision made to put him on O2? If he was merely separated (and presumably an advanced level student), shouldn't he have known to make a safety stop from the depth before surfacing (assuming he was in a non-emergency state of mind)?

Thanks!

 

[Scuba Dudette]

There are always lessons to be learned, and I think in retrospect this incident wasn't a bad thing. Sounds like everyone from EMS on down learned some things.

It was just one missing diver, and he is the one you saw on O2. That was done as a precaution (again, always better to err on the side of caution).

Only the divers involved really know what happened. Everybody there was thankful the day had a good ending.

 

[Saltwater Junky]

Thanks icestac and Scuba Dudette! Appreciate the updates. Am always concerned for those involved and the sport when I hear of diving incidents. I like to get as much information about the situation so that I may learn from those experiences. Somethings I like to learn vis the school of hard knocks; however, diving is not one of them. I too am glad all is well.

 

[SPG3K]

Woo! Great! I'm going to Dive Haven on Thursday for Dives 3 and 4 OW certification. lol.

 

[wrinkletoes]

Was there also. Apparently the whole group of five students was under the supervision of their divemaster. The plan was to make an 80 foot dive. It would appear none of the five students in the dark and very cold water were monitoring their depth gauges, and they all ended up on the platform at the bottom. word was one had a recorded depth of 142 on their computer. don't know how many of them were narced out, but their divemaster could not get them to kick to the surface. Instead they were all trying to ascend by pulling themselves hand over hand up the buoy line. They managed to pull the buoy all the way down. One has to wonder whether they were overweighted, or just failed to compensate for the compression at depth by using their inflators. the dive master surfaced alerting all within earshot that his students would not kick. A PADI pro with their group was observing from land, and asked a neighboring group whether anyone could suit up for a potential rescue. The rescue pair, both PADI pros, went in and swam to the buoy in question. Before they went down, four of the "lost" students surfaced and were sent to the shore by surface swim. While the rescuers were down, bubbles were seen to rise along a line to shore a few yards behind the four surface swimmers. As it turns out the bubbles were from the last missing diver who got himself to shore following a line tethered from the 140# platform in the middle to the dock on shore. Didn't hear the students stories from their own mouths, but it was said the last lost diver thought he was ascending on the buoy line. This diver said he did a safety stop but was unclear at what depth, so he was given oxygen as a precaution. I believe the divemaster had made a rapid no stop ascent when he surfaced, and was also given oxygen. Everyone made it to shore. No one seemed to have suffered physically, although many were shaken.

Part of the confusion with the EMT's was the original call was made when there was one distressed diver at the surface (the divemaster), and an unknown number missing below.

Hope that helps clear up a few things. There are still some big questions, but I can't answer those.

 

[bletso]

Just to stir up the pot, it appears that the instructor was not exercising good judgement by utilizing an improper venue for training the level he was training. You don't take OW advanced students to a 150 ft cold, dark hole for a class with a max depth limit of 100 ffw. Things can and always do seem to get out of hand.

I had this favorite quarry I liked and it just ate gear and divers (figuratively). 140 ffw, cold, and dark. I always thought I was smart because I would only take two divers at a time. Something always happened. Free flows, BC problems, just about anything. All dealt with but after awhile, I just said why take the chance and found another venue.

I see little wrong with four students at depth in warm, clear water, but cold, dark quarries is another matter. Control is lost the second one of your wards decides he has had enough and as an instructor, it is always about control. We are responsible for our student's welfare.

Dale